Earth moving machines known in the art are used for digging into the earth or rock and moving loosened work material from one place to another at a worksite. These machines and equipment typically include a body portion housing the engine and having rear wheels, tracks or similar components driven by the engine, and an elevated cab for the operator. The machines and equipment may further include articulating mechanical arms or other types of linkages, such as Z-bar linkages, for manipulating one or more implements of the machine. The linkages may be capable of raising and lowering the implements and rotating the implements to engage the ground or other work material in a desired manner. In the earth moving applications, the implements of the machines or other equipment may be buckets with a beveled lip or blade on a base edge for moving or excavating dirt or other types of work material.
To facilitate the earth-moving process, and to prolong the useful life of the implement, a plurality of tip assemblies may be placed along the base edge of the implement and attached to the surface of the implement. The tip assemblies project forward from the base edge as a first point of contact and penetration with work material, and to reduce the amount of wear of the base edge. With this arrangement, the tip assemblies may be subjected to the wear and breakage caused by repetitive engagement with the work material. Eventually, the tip assemblies must be replaced, but the implement may remain usable through multiple cycles of replacement tip assemblies. Depending on the variety of uses and work material for the equipment, it may also be desirable to change the type or shape of the tip assemblies to most effectively utilize the implement.
In many implementations, installation and replacement of the tip assemblies may be facilitated by providing the tip assemblies as a two-part system. The system may include an adapter that is attached to the base edge of the implement, a ground-engaging tip configured to be attached to the adapter, and a retention mechanism securing the tip to the adapter during use. The adapter may be welded, bolted, or otherwise secured to the base edge, and then the tip may be attached to the adapter and held in place by the retention mechanism.
The tip endures most of the impact and abrasion of engagement with the work material. Thus, the tip may wear down more quickly and require replacement more often than the adapter. Consequently, multiple tips may be attached to the adapter, worn down, and replaced before the adapter itself must be replaced. Eventually, the adapter may wear down and require replacement. If an adapter is regularly used with worn tips, the adapter may wear down and require replacement more quickly than intended. This can be problematic, for example, if an adapter is significantly more expensive, more difficult to obtain, or takes longer to replace than a tip, resulting in more machine down time.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/01739848 to Ok et al. (“the '848 publication”) describes a wear indicator for an excavating tooth. The excavating tooth has a bore on the front of its adapter recess extending horizontally toward the tip. A wear indicator is located inside the bore. When the tip of the tooth wears down, the wear indicator becomes visible.
While the wear indicator solution of the '848 publication may help identify a worn excavator tooth, it may have certain drawbacks. For example, the configuration of the wear indicator may not work well in non-excavator applications, such as a bottom-wearing applications. Additionally, the '848 publication's wear indicator may not adequately protect certain parts of the adapter from wear or damage. The '848 publication's excavator tooth may have additional issues, such as excess material in certain areas, making the part heavier and more robust or expensive than it needs to be. The excavator tooth may lack features that provide additional support in areas of high stress. Additionally, the excavator tooth may be difficult to install on the adapter.
This disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and other problems in the art.